[1] The line's stations were designed to visually appeal to Victorian London-commuters, who had travelled into the Sussex countryside looking for either a commuter property, or country cottage for the weekend.

Designed in the then fashionable "Domestic Revival" style (similar to the later Tudor Revival architecture style), located on the westwards facing No.1 upside platform, the lavish main station building was designed as a two-storey villa with a T-shaped footprint, with a single storey wing each side: booking office and toilets to the north; waiting room and storage to the south.

In the 1930s, the Southern Railway removed many of the superfluous LB&SCR decorations, and shortened the downside facilities to what was basically an open-plan shelter located next to the footbridge.

[2] Since reopening in 1994 the station has been adopted by the "Friends of Kingscote" group of volunteers, who provide general maintenance and undertake renovation projects.

This has included extending platforms to operate longer trains and rebuilding the signal box which was commissioned in 2015 employing a Westinghouse style L miniature lever frame unique in the standard gauge heritage railway world.